Another area that will influence ESL teaching methods and strategies is whether the students now live in an English-speaking country or whether they are in their national environment and continuing to live and work with their native language. Another factor is whether they are just taking lessons or being taught at schools using English as the medium of communication.
Teachers are often faced with classrooms which contain a mixture of ESL and non-ESL pupils. This has the potential to create a dilemma as to where the focus of learning should be and, importantly, how to keep the interest of all of the students so that all can make satisfactory progress. Often the nonnative-speaking students will not participate because they have little or no confidence in their English abilities.
One strategy which can benefit all is journaling. This has the added advantage of sharing experiences and understanding from a wider mix of cultures. The teacher will ask the students to keep a journal of their own experiences at home and at school. She will tell them that technical aspects such as grammar and spelling are not important for this task, but rather the expression of thoughts and feelings. Students are then encouraged to read aloud to the class.
A method that is commonly used in ESL teaching, and one that has proven successful, is a natural approach. In this strategy, students with limited English are guided through three initial steps. These are first comprehension, then early production and finally speech immersion.
One part of this strategy is that in the comprehension phase, the teacher will use visual aids and create activities. She will use them to assist students to understand the meaning of important words within the context that they are used. She will also guide students towards trying to understand the meaning of phrases without giving or telling them all of the words contained in the phrase or sentence.